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Insights and perspectives on productions, players, and programs. A.C.T. nurtures the art of live theater through dynamic productions, intensive actor training in its conservatory, and an ongoing engagement with its community.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

By Simon Hodgson

The
Unfortunates started out
as a side project for musical collaborators Jon Beavers, Casey Lee Hurt, Ian
Merrigan, and Ramiz Monsef. In 2013, with the creative team now including
playwright Kristoffer Diaz, the show emerged as a breakout hit at the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival (OSF)—an original musical that blended bluesy grit with
contemporary syncopations. Over
the last couple of years, the musical’s creators have worked with A.C.T.’s
artistic team to refine the score and script for a run at The Strand. We sat
down with Beavers, Hurt, and Monsef to find out more about the amazing journey
of The Unfortunates.

Four of the five creators of The Unfortunates: (L to R) Ramiz Monsef, Jon Beavers, Ian Merrigan, and Casey Lee Hurt. Photo by Randy Taradash.

What’s the
inspiration behind The Unfortunates?

Ramiz Monsef: The seed of the whole thing is the song “St. James
Infirmary.” The first time I ever heard that song was in a Betty Boop cartoon,
in which Cab Calloway sings it. It’s this seven-minute-long Snow White cartoon
from 1933. I saw it as a little kid and it haunted me.

So, blues
and cartoons. Ramiz, don’t you have a background in graphic novels, as well?

Monsef: I have a background in being a total comic-book nerd. I’ve
got boxes of Spider-Man back issues to prove it. The character design
and the idea of using hands as a metaphor came out of my head, then were
brought to life by our incredible designers, set designer Sibyl Wickersheimer
and costume designer Katherine O’Neill.

It seems
like there’s a Hellboy element to Big Joe, with the supersized fists. Are you
drawing from that?

Monsef: Yeah. Hellboy and the Goon, absolutely. I’ve always found
hands really fascinating. I also like [early-twentieth century Austrian
painter] Egon Schiele, whose figures all have these crazy fingers. We drew
inspiration from everywhere.

Casey Lee Hurt: We’ve also pulled from the early blues aesthetic
and jazz, with that kind of energy and vibe.

Jon Beavers: We also drew from action movies. And we were
really interested in propaganda posters from the two world wars. In World War
II, the artwork was heavily influenced by [comic book artist] Jack Kirby,
graphic novels, and cartoons from the New Yorker. The styles of those
artists were used for war propaganda, and we were borrowing from all of that.

The Unfortunates seems
to be rooted in the two world wars—or is it set in a generalized world at war?

Hurt: It’s the idea of a world at war. World War I is where
a lot of our influences are drawn from, but we’re trying not to put the show
specifically in that time period. The reason for that is because the enemy in
the play is not a regime. It’s fear. For us, that’s the most important
element—fear is the thing that every generation faces. And we want that to be
transparent and true throughout.

This is an
unusual score—did you set out to include a range of American musical genres?

Hurt: We’ve done our best effort to expand the definition of Americana.
A lot of people tend to lean more toward an acoustic guitar or folk elements.
What we’re trying to do is not only bring in those elements but also reach into
the more modern elements of blues and jazz and hip-hop and spoken word. The
desire is to tell the story through music and to have a really open palette for
whatever style we’re working with.*To learn more about the inspiration behind The Unfortunates, click here to purchase a hard or digital copy of Words on Plays,A.C.T.'s in-depth performance guide series. All proceeds go to our ACTsmart education programs, serving teachers and students throughout the Bay Area.